Hands-on Review: Lundis Bleus

Blue Mondays were a popular pass time for high skilled watch makers in the early 16th to 19th century. They would take Mondays, sometimes even Tuesdays, off to go drinking in a pub instead of working. All in protest of working 15 to 16 hour days and having very little time to themselves. This tradition kept up for centuries and come the time of the industrial revolution workers had shorter and more enforced workdays and the tradition ended.

Lundis Bleus is the French translation of Blue Mondays and is the name of the watch partnership that two graduates of the La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaking school, Johan Storni and Bastien Vuilliomenet formed. Lundis Bleus are not celebrating this tradition, rather remarking on the effect it had on the watchmaking industry. Lundis Bleus logo is also tied to Blue Mondays as it represents an alcohol molecule.

The watch is held together in a polished, screwed in, stainless steel case. The crown and case back are also polished stainless steel, except for the area around the logo, which is micro blasted. And the lugs are a satin finish stainless steel. The top crystal is a domed sapphire and has a multi layered anti-reflective coating. The bottom crystal is a flat shaped mineral glass. The Lundis Bleus has the reliable Japanese Miyota 9015 automatic movement.

The dial is made up of two plates both made of brass and have a galvanic plating. The upper plate is decorated and has a satin finish, while the bottom plate has a grain finish. The polished date window is located at the six o’clock position. The hands, and indices are all flat cut and are also made up of brass with a galvanic plating. Something that’s interesting about the hands and indices is that they will actually mirror the colors that are reflecting off of them, for example the light blue sky, or the dark night sky.

The watch comes with a cowhide leather, brown strap with a satin finished stainless steel buckle. It comes in a matte finished grey box with grey fabric cushion. The Lundis Bleus is priced at CHF 1,350.